Which Laptop to buy?

Mr_Warren_2

Hi all. Time has come to change my laptop "Toshiba Portege R700-182" . It's killed its second battery pack which is giving up the ghost as it's only keeping up the charge for 1h max. Me thinking that instead of throwing money to a new battery pack, I might as well update the hardware.

Problem is I don't know what to go for as replacement. Toshiba, Sony, Lenovo, HP, Dell ....???

I use my laptop daily for work and take it on planes when I travel (I do this regularly hence the annoying bit about the battery). My budget is £300 - £400. I have an external 1TB Hard Drive, use SolidWorks and Outlook regularly.

Thanks for giving me some pointers in ideally, the same/similar screen dimension. Many thanks.

NiftyDigits

Just buy a cheaper battery and turn off the 3G radio when not in use.

danthemoneysavingman

As you say you want to update your hardware, why not give some parameters other than cost, e.g. screen size, weight, processor speed memory hard drive space, build quality, dvd/bluray?, bluetooth, etc


then ppl could advise better.
there is also a cheap laptops thread here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1147017
why not check that out

EDIT: the thread is woefully out of date, but is the right place to ask such a question perhaps.


If you brought a few options it may help ppl understand what you're after and they can then offer alternatives

NiftyDigits

Mr_Warren wrote: »

Hi all. Time has come to change my laptop "Toshiba Portege R700-182" . It's killed its second battery pack which is giving up the ghost as it's only keeping up the charge for 1h max. Me thinking that instead of throwing money to a new battery pack, I might as well update the hardware.

Problem is I don't know what to go for as replacement. Toshiba, Sony, Lenovo, HP, Dell ....???

I use my laptop daily for work and take it on planes when I travel (I do this regularly hence the annoying bit about the battery). My budget is £300 - £400. I have an external 1TB Hard Drive, use SolidWorks and Outlook regularly.

Thanks for giving me some pointers in ideally, the same/similar screen dimension. Many thanks.

With that budget, you won't be updating anything. That Toshiba was a £1000 laptop.

Replace the battery with perhaps the one I've indicated. It's a nine cell, as opposed to a six cell and take a closer look as to what is eating the battery.
According to the specs, nine hours is possible using the six cell.
So, you should investigate.

charlotte_rose

I would never buy another Dell. Purchased a laptop in April.

Two missed delivery dates so I had to take 3 days off work for delivery.

When I wrote to complain they never answered (and its 3-weeks now). They take customers for nothing but cash machines. Utterly dreadful approach

Mr_Warren_2

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Just buy a cheaper battery and turn off the 3G radio when not in use.

Thanks NiftyDigits. Am definitely considering your suggestion.This TOSHIBA laptop belonged to my daughter at Uni who got it as part of an insurance flood claim, never had to buy the unit so didn't really know the price. She didn't like it because it didn't have a large enough screen .....to watch movies!! So it's a "hand-me-down" item ....

Is there a place I could get it sent to for hardware repairs (such as clips/clamps that keep the battery locked in place?). Thanks again.

........What's the 3G radio you mention? Didn't know I had that function ....

NiftyDigits

Mr_Warren wrote: »

Thanks NiftyDigits. Am definitely considering your suggestion.This TOSHIBA laptop belonged to my daughter at Uni who got it as part of an insurance flood claim, never had to buy the unit so didn't really know the price. She didn't like it because it didn't have a large enough screen .....to watch movies!! So it's a "hand-me-down" item ....

Is there a place I could get it sent to for hardware repairs (such as clips/clamps that keep the battery locked in place?). Thanks again.

........What's the 3G radio you mention? Didn't know I had that function ....

You can put a mobile telephone data SIM inside for when there is no Home Internet or WiFi connection available.

There should already be two sliding switches to keep the battery in place. One locks automatically, the other you slide over yourself. Are they broken?

You can approach Toshiba Support in the first instance if there is a problem. 01932 841 600

John_Gray

charlotte_rose wrote: »

I would never buy another Dell. Purchased a laptop in April.

Two missed delivery dates so I had to take 3 days off work for delivery.

When I wrote to complain they never answered (and its 3-weeks now). They take customers for nothing but cash machines. Utterly dreadful approach

I would have got ratty with the courier company in the first instance, not Dell. For Optiplexes we bought some time ago, the machines were built in five days, but were with the delivery company for eight!